Ukulele Painting Tips

SimonAlojipan

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I know the Ukulele Painting will affect the sound quality, but that's okay, as the Ukulele I will be painting will be hung up for display purposes only. That being said, I need some tips on painting a Mahalo U50 G Soprano.

I plan on sanding all areas until the wood is very thin (as the Ukulele should resonate more better with a thin wood under thin layers of paint), including the Mahogany fretboard (which I will touch up later). I will apply an even coat of thin spray on black, maybe two coats, and then I will paint the main design going there later, smoothly, all sides painted step by step, air drying. The theme I am going for is a Lunar Moon and Wave design.

What type of paint is better for this? I plan on using Acrylic paint. What kind of wood finish should I use - matte or gloss? (I plan on using matte). Are there any other tips for painting the Ukulele? What type of grit should I use? Thanks in advanced.

This guide seems to help a lot, though it's for an acoustic guitar, the sanding bits and finishing should be good for a Ukulele process. http://www.instructables.com/answers/How-do-I-paint-an-acoustic-guitar/
 
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search "frankenstein" because somebody described painting a dolphin and gave tips in that thread.

I do my with no theme just add colors and put some effect to it and keep the texture. I think I will use a matte finish over a gloss because its all I have and I want to start playing soon

I painted on a solid body Eleuke so I don't have to worry about the sound (or do I?? Haha)
 
Have you ever tried an airbrush....very different and cool....plus it's thinner coat...
MM Stan...
 
I have painted 2 Ukuleles, the first I have a thread on here called the " Who Kulele " the second I am still working on. I used enamels on the Whokulele this paint is very very hardwearing, self levelling and goes on nice and thin. Of course there is the smell the clean up and it can be a little difficult blending. The other major problem with the enamel paint is that you cannot spray over it with a finishing lacquer as the enamels will bubble and craze.I used a brush on polyurethane tough coat varnish for the enamel based uke and have to say the colours came to life. And boy this thing is tough coat, with enamel paint and a good hard varnish it allows you to limit the layers and therefore retain the instruments tonality. The second Uke I am painting I am using Acrylics, this is far less messy for clean up and easy to blend and can be coated with a gloss or matte finish BUT the acrylic must be given time to dry and harden and cure fully before attempting a spray with an acrylic based finish I would recommend at least 72 hours for thin coats and at least a week for anything thicker, then test an area first. When final coating is applied you should always look for a non yellowuing formula. ( This did not matter with the first Uke as any yellowing will not afffect the chosen colours ) Using acrylics has another issue in that they are not a self levelling paint so you will tend to see brush strokes more in the finished item. Another problem with acrylics is that they do dry very quickly when using them, you can add a little glycerin or propylene glycol to the colour you are using to retard the drying time when you are working with and blending the paints, again do not overdo the retardent as too much will prevent the paint from drying at all. For the second Uke which has a Love & Peace hippy theme, I have painted the tuners with enamel then given them about 8 to ten coats of clear nail polish. Good luck with the project.
 

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You painted the Doctor Who uke yourself? My daughter saw the pictures and went crazy; she wants one of her own!
 
Fuzzy , funnily enough it was my daughter who decided that we should do a Doctor Who Uke....She did the drawing and I painted it, team effort. I actually prefer painting with the enamels, the coverage and even layering, plus the strength of the paint make it a good medium. Glad you like the Uke, it's only a Makala Dolphin but it's unique. I have added some extra pics to show the headstock and symbols on the sides.
 

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Thanks for all your help, and those are amazing :) So I have it settled. I'm going to remove strings, tuners, etc. I'm going to sand the wood down until all is smooth and somewhat thinner. I'll apply two layers of primer. Then I'll apply a layer or two of black acrylic using air brush (or a weak, not to drippy spray can), putting tape over all areas that don't need painting (and protecting the sand hole). Then I'll wait for the entire Ukulele to be all black and dry, then paint on the design. Then I can apply a matte or gloss finish. Any other tips? I'm still deciding which finish is better. This is the 2nd Draft of my Plan. I also plan for the safety precautions, wearing my glasses and goggles, my dust mast (with a filter) and do it outside in a well lit, non-flammable area.

EDIT: I making sure to do what the below user says :) Thanks tube.
 
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The grain of the second layer of plywood has an other direction than the first. Don´t sand it down too much...
 
DeePeePee,

I like those tuning pegs.

For those that are squeemish to paint ukes, just understand that I have access to $20 ukuleles and some are just $15 ukes.

My wife started in on a $15 uke after she saw me paint my Eleuke. Here is the current status.

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You can tell we don't do themes. We just freeflow, make mistakes, and cover them up again.
 
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Loving the textured look it will be an easy grip Uke. I have almost finished the Love and peace Uke now, Have a couple of gaps to fill on the front ( top right corner in the pic and round the sound hole ) I have found a great symbol for the headstock.
 

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I couldn't emphasize enough, how awesome a reggae ukulele would look. :)

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HOw about this for a start? Any suggestions to the side and the back or just keep it simple with the yellow base?

Hey yellow and black on the back with the red/yellow/green all around the side with some trim?
 
That's the front of the uke finished, now the headstock, touch in the areas where paint has shrunk as it dried ( another acrylic specifiic issue. ) give the whole thing a gloss coat, stick some decent strings on it, then it's off to ebay.
 

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That's the front of the uke finished, now the headstock, touch in the areas where paint has shrunk as it dried ( another acrylic specifiic issue. ) give the whole thing a gloss coat, stick some decent strings on it, then it's off to ebay.

haha. I took the tape off after 40 minutes on the first coats. I got some seepage or "Bleeding" of the red paint under the tape. Live and learn.

I think the yellow is too mustardy so I need to find a brighter yellow to fill and feather. I'm gonna do something with the soundhole too because the label doesn't go with the theme.

I have never sold anything on e-bay. I think I'd like to play this for awhile to see how it sounds and to be inspired on the reggae strum
 
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The good thing about not having a specific theme is just the freedom to change on the fly. I never know what a finished piece will look like.
 
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It kindof looks more like mix of a Mexican flag, an italian flag, and an ongoing game of Pacman.
 
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